1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to printer drivers, more particularly to methods of modifying printer drivers based upon applications.
2. Background of the Invention
The increased availability of high-quality printers and software applications for printing applications has caused an explosion in desktop printing and publishing. Users have more options than every before, from printers to software applications. Print systems have become more robust in order to handle more and more printing applications.
Print systems usually include the printer and software printer drivers. The printer drivers actually control the printer in whatever manner is required by the application that calls them. With the increase in the number of applications that can call the drivers, however, little customization of the print drivers is possible for the users. Yet, some customization would be desirable.
For example, some applications only allow one page of print to be printed per print job. Others might use fonts that the printer needs for true rendering of the image. Most drivers do not handle these types of special situations, they just continue to process the print jobs as they process all print jobs. However, if the print driver could adapt to the unique requirements of applications, it would eliminate print time overhead and make the printing system more efficient.
One aspect of the invention is a method for altering a printer driver. The printer driver is created such that it will search for a database file, and if it does not locate the file, it will create one. The database file can be altered by the users of the print system that has that driver, even if it has pre-loaded information. When the printer driver is called by an application, the printer driver references the database file. If the application name is listed under any of the headings, the printer driver alters its operation in accordance with the information in the headings.
Another aspect of the invention is a printer driver with the necessary structure to search for the database file and create it if it does not locate one.